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Life Fitness and Paofit Team Up With London Marathon

Imagine lacing up to run the iconic Virgin Money London Marathon, seeing the crowd scream as you pass over the Tower Bridge, and feeling the energy of the day without ever leaving your home or gym.

Life Fitness, Paofit and the Virgin Money London Marathon today announced the first ever digital marathon, allowing anyone in the world to experience running the famous race with the same course, spectators and thrills from your treadmill.

To fuel the competition Life Fitness had three teams of four runners, from Franklin Park, Illinois; Hong Kong, China; and at the London Marathon Expo itself in the UK, race against each other in a series of mile relays. Our UK office will also have teams virtually running at the same time as the London Marathon is happening. Starting today, anyone with the Paofit app can run a sample portion of the London Marathon.

Paofit is the first and only company to combine HD video of running courses around the world with virtual reality avatars to make treadmill running fun and social. The partnership allows users to run a video portion of the marathon as Paofit avatars on Life Fitness machines. The exerciser’s speed is recorded as verifiable data against other competitors. Additionally, the treadmill’s incline will automatically adjust according to the marathon course terrain.

Upping the ante even more, teams from Fortune 500 companies will also be at the proverbial starting blocks. Paofit’s technology allows users to see the location of their competitors on our Discover Tablet Consoles, and they’ll even be able to adjust their speeds and try to beat each other, just like in a real race.

We’re thrilled that these Life Fitness technology solutions are allowing us to create unique digital experiences for exercisers everywhere. We’re excited not only about our equipment’s involvement in London, but its inherent ability to evolve and achieve fitness results some never thought possible. We’ll see you all at the finish line!